Barão de Figueira 2013 Tinto Reserva

I thought this wine was promising right away, but in the way that I like wines well-aired, I thought it needed two hours to fully show itself. Then it has nice aromas and flavors of dark roses, dark plum, cranberry / raspberry, with ripe fruit but also plenty of acid and an earthy tannic finish, in a light-to-medium bodied wine. I think it’s an elegant and tasty wine for the money, and definitely a food wine.

The saved single-glass, screwcap bottle still needed a bit of air to show dark, earthy plummy flavors that were less acid and less complex than on the first night. I might have liked it better the second night. For those who like earthy, tannic, somewhat acid, European wines, this is a good deal for a daily red. It should hold on well for two or three more years.

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13 thoughts on “Barão de Figueira 2013 Tinto Reserva”

I’m new to wine, but this one had a kind of musty after taste. I don’t know if that’s the earthy tannic finish you mentioned, but to me it almost tasted like something was off. Maybe it was just the bottle I got, I’ve tasted a similar but much stronger flavor in a couple other wines from grossout but I can’t recall which. each time it was kind of a musty, moldy flavor.

is this just the way some wines taste? I read about cork taint, and from the description I think that might be what it is, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

in contrast, have you tried the Cline Petite Sirah? I found it for $4.99 at the Oakland store. I’m gonna go back for more, it’s delicious. bright peppery start, with I guess a dry finish? that’s how I would describe it, but it’s possible those words mean something different in wine circles. Like I said, I’m pretty new to wine. I’ve been experimenting with $3.99 bottles from grossout because 20% of them are delicious, 75% are fine, and the 5% that I don’t like are still cheap enough to pour out.

Greetings hurah-sirah and thanks for joining us. I found the Cline Zinfandel too ripe and jammy for my taste, so I didn’t try the Cline Syrah, and I don’t intend to try the Cline Petite Sirah. However, these have all been very popular, and, of course, “If you like it, it’s good wine.” That said, I am curious about how sweet it is. The scale on the back label puts it more toward the sweet end than the dry, and I wondered if it was made in a semi-sweet style to balance Petite Sirah’s usually strong tannin and acid. Does it taste noticeably sweet to you, or does the sugar seem reasonably in balance with the fruit?

About pouring out the wines you don’t like… GO policy is that you can always return any wines that are mostly not consumed for either store credit or cash refund. It helps to have your receipt, though.

I remember liking the Zin, but not loving it. If I remember correctly it was a little sweeter than I’d prefer, but it was drinkable for $3.99 and very consistent. The petite sirah, like I said, seems peppery and bright with a dry finish. It doesn’t seem as sweet as the zin to me, but I didn’t take notes so my recollection might be off (on the zin). I guess I’d say the sweet and fruit balance, but I’m still building a point of reference.

Mostly I buy the $3.99 stuff because my landlord became aware of the rising property values sometime around 2012. My apartment isn’t fancy, but it provides sanctuary from the cold, harsh, outer world, this apocalyptic nightmare we call 2016. I don’t indulge in many extravagances, but our good green grosser shines a ray of hope through my dusty window. A ray of pure sunshine in the form of red wine for just under $4.

hey! you know what would be awesome? if there’s a wordpress plugin that would allow you and all your readers to post wines and review them similar to vivino.com, except only for wines from grossout. I end up chatting with other people shopping for wine at grossout, and I always tell them about this site.

Hurah-sirah , it sounds like you are blessed or cursed, depending how you look at it, but you seem to be super sensitive to TCA, 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole . Some people are sensitive to ppb and maybe less. Well, for me, ignorance is bliss.

thanks for the info. Maybe that’s it. I’ve been thinking about looking for a wine meetup or something where I can talk to people directly when we both try wine from the same bottle.

I remember now that the wine I first tasted this in was one of the SImply Naked Unoaked reds. Pretty sure it was the Cabernet. I had bought a couple bottles of it, and both had that musty, moldy just kinda cruddy aftertaste. MUCH stronger than the Figueira.

Bought one bottle and tried it tonight. Actually I bought three different wines today at Silverdale and opened them all in case I wanted to return for more of something astounding. I won’t be returning…though I did enjoy this wine the most of the three. BW’s review is quite accurate, though I’d add a strong white pepper presence in the flavors too. Perfect tannin and acidity too. Great food wine and clearly old world.

I’d like to reply to hurah-sirah too. If you are indeed “new to wine”, I’d suspect that this wine is a toughie for a novice. Old world style wines take some getting used to, as the fruit tends to be in the background and earthiness often dominates. Those are flavors that aren’t generally perceived as tasty to folks new to wine. In spirits (like Scotch), it’s “an acquired taste”. So I rather doubt that you got a bottle that had cork taint (though that’s entirely possible). I tend to believe you just need to work your way into wines like the Figueira…and don’t be in any big hurry. Don’t let Darrell’s reference to TCA scare you off! Just get used to experiencing all the wines available to you before you start scientifically analyzing them. Most important right now…know what you like…like the Cline Petite Sirah.

yeah, maybe. I only recently started noticing it and only with certain wines. If what I’m tasting is an acquired taste, I’m not sure it’s one I want to. I was raised eating just about everything and I’m really open to new flavors. So far the only things in the world I don’t like are 100 year eggs, and raw tomatoes … and over the last 35-40 years I’ve pushed myself on raw tomatoes to the point I kinda enjoy them in salads and on sandwiches. But whatever it is I’m tasting in certain bottles of wine, it just tastes like rot to me. Not like bad meat rot, but like wood rot, or mildew, maybe with a hint of chocolate, but not enough to save it. It was strongest in the “Simply Naked Unoaked Cabernet”. In contrast, the Figueira was worlds better. (to me)

Thanks for your recommendation, Bill. I have been curious about it since (1) it’s “100% Siria,” a variety I’ve never heard of, which does not seem to have a Wiki entry, and (2), the red was pretty good.